Daniel Ricciardo says he is enjoying the added pressure of being in the frame for next year's vacant Red Bull seat.

Since Mark Webber announced his decision to retire at the end of the season, Ricciardo has qualified in fifth and sixth place in the following two races, securing points with an eighth-place finish in Silverstone last weekend.

Following his latest impressive qualifying performance at the Nurburgring, when asked if he is as relaxed with the extra pressure as he appears, Ricciardo replied: "I guess I enjoy it.

"When you hear things like that you have to take it as positive information, because it is positive. If they're talking about me maybe taking a seat like that then it's good and for me to take it and use it as negative pressure doesn't make sense. I use it to my advantage and it seems to be working so let's keep it in this direction."

However, Ricciardo said the upturn in form was not solely a result of the Red Bull drive becoming available but a reaction to previous race results.

"Before all the Red Bull talk I'd come off two poor races and we had a break then - three weeks off after Montreal - and that was a good time to reassess a few things, try and bring the boys and myself together and really try to understand how we can move forward.

"So that alone and the fact that JEV had two really strong races, so to know the car has got potential gave me a lot of fire. I like to think that I always work hard away from the cockpit but let's say I worked a little bit harder to try and understand. That was the really motivation for me to try to make that step up, the Red Bull thing was just a bit of icing to that mix already, but that was me and I just wanted to try and make that right."